Brutal Endings
by Lunaweasley94
Summary: Ron Weasley and his friend Daniel Williamson are both Aurors hunting down a dark wizard who has been travelling the world killing innocent muggles.
1. The Dark Wizard Catcher

DISCLAIMER: As you may or may not know, I actually do not own the rights to Harry Potter (what a surprise this must be to you all) but the whole entire Harry Potter series belongs to JK Rowling. The only characters I own in this story are the Dark Wizard, Daniel Williamson and Mrs Balderdash. There may be some more that I own and I am looking past them.

PS- This fanfiction is not perfect. There are parts that seem like they're going to come up and be important later in the story but they dont because I am SILLY. I read over it once it was done and realised how many loose ends I forgot to tie up. Other than that it's actually pretty good :)

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><p>Being an Auror was a dangerous job, but most of the time it was office work. It paid well and was comfortable but for those who had been expecting action like there had been while the Death Eaters were still at large were to be bitterly disappointed. Things in the Wizarding world were a lot tamer than they had been a mere 10 years ago.<p>

Dragging himself out of bed, the Auror looked at his beautiful wife lying in their bed. He hated to leave her, especially for work. Work was boring when he had to stay in the office. He stumbled to the kitchen, yawning and stretching as he walked, and with a flick of his wand, produced a bowl of cereal. As he at his bowl of cereal, still half asleep, he heard his son's footsteps from upstairs.

'Hermione! Hugo's up, could you get him? I've got to get ready for work' Ron shouted into the room he had just come from.

Ron listened as his wife made her way up to their sons room and took him into her and Ron's room. Life at home was perfect, he never wanted to leave. Today he was, once again, working in the office doing paperwork. Being an Auror always sounded so exciting, so rewarding and so… well so cool! But so far, it had just been dull. Ron would give anything for a bit more action in his job.

Once he was dressed and looking smart, Ron stepped into the fire place, dropped in the Floo Powder and shouted

'The Ministry of Magic!'

Walking through the Ministry, Ronald Weasley always felt a sense of importance, which he had always enjoyed. Despite the dull workload, people respected Aurors quite highly.

'Morning' he said cheerfully to the Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports

'Good morning!' Ron said, this time to the Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.

This was Ron's favourite part of the day, the only sense of importance he got at work. The second he reached the Auror office it was always business as usual.

Taking a deep breath, Ron slumped through the doors to the Auror office where he was surprised to be greeted by none other than the Minister for Magic himself!

'Good morning, Ronald' Kingsley said cheerfully, holding out a hand for Ron to shake, 'There is some very important business I wish you to attend to. Come to my office, I will explain everything'


	2. The Big Mission

'If Kingsley came all the way down to the Auror office just to get me, this has got to be big' Ron thought as the Minister led him to his office. It had been a long time since Ron had done anything exciting at work, nothing had happened since five years before when there was a wizard trying to convince people to become a new league of Death Eaters, that didn't last long. The ministry found out straight away and it turned out that the 'mastermind' behind it all was nothing but an average wizard who had decided to get some power for himself.

So Ron was very excited to be being led to Kingsley's office and his mind couldn't help but wander. Perhaps he would be hunting down a dark wizard to match Lord Voldemort. He could make history! But maybe it would be something dull, maybe he would be disappointed. He thought it best not to get his hopes up. But that was easier said than done.

They walked down the marble hallway to the magnificent golden elevators. Kingsley slid the doors open and they both walked in. Going left, right, up and down, and even some directions that Ron could never figure out, the elevators finally reached their destination. The pair walked quickly to the Ministers office. Kingsley opened the large black door and Ron slowly wandered in, ogling his surroundings, taking a thousand mental pictures.

Nobody ever visited the Ministers office unless it was for very important business or an extremely important person. Not many people got to see the inside of this wonderful room and it looked absolutely nothing like the rumours had said.

There was a magical light around the room, which Ron found was due to the fairies which floated all around the room, all emitting their own bright orange glow. The Ministers desk was in the shape of a giant brown 'M' and his chair was 10 foot tall and the cushions looked more comfortable than anything that Ron had seen before. There was a large fireplace one the left and right walls, each with strange flames that switched from purple to pink to yellow to orange.

'Sit down, Ronald' Kingsley said, happily, and Ron did as he was asked and sunk deep into a large oak chair with magically comfortable cushions

'Ronald, I have a very important mission for you. We have recently discovered a Wizard that has been travelling the world, killing innocent muggles. We can only assume his intentions, but we are quite sure that he is doing it for sport. This Wizard is dangerous, Ron, you must hunt him down. If word gets out that someone has gotten away with this for a year, right under the Ministry's nose, they will think that the Ministry is weak. Other people might start to get ideas'

Kingsley handed Ron a file and nodded, Ron nodded back. It was time to finally prove himself as an Auror, to prove that he was more than a mere side-kick.

'You will be working with another Auror, of course. Daniel Williamson, do you know him? His father was an Auror back when I was one'

A smile grew across Ron's face. Daniel was his best work friend; it would be great to go on a real mission with him. Also, he wasn't the brightest wand in the barrel, so Ron would be the more experienced on the mission.

'Yeh, I know Daniel quite well' Ron said, trying to hide the childish smile. He felt like he had been paired with his best friend for a school project.

'Well then, Ronald. I think that you can take it from here. Everything you need to know is in that file, Williamson knows that he is going on a mission with you. It's up to you to explain it to him, Daniel is much less experienced than you. You are responsible for this mission, take care of Williamson'


	3. Dark Shadows

The Muggles lived in blissful ignorance as a monster more powerful than they could ever imagine lurked in the shadows of their so-called safe towns. Maybe if they used their minds they would figure it out that people don't just disappear, there is much more to it than that. He knew, however, that they would never open their minds far enough to uncover the secret hidden beneath their polite smiles and tedious small-talk. The gossip that travelled about the disappearances was all wrong and nobody was clever enough to even try to dig deeper.

He was a mere shadow in the night, leaving his solitude only to do what he came for. Leaving the Wizarding world was no hardship for him, he had nobody to miss and no job to leave. The muggle-world was where he was needed, there were things to be done and he was the only person willing to do it.

The Muggles had to be kept in suspense, if they lived in a world without anything to fear they would become powerful. They had to be kept in their rightful place. A few muggle deaths was a small price to pay to keep the Wizarding world in a higher power. Muggles didn't even know that they were being ruled over, watched, and even hunted down. They blamed other Muggles, they punished their own kind for Wizards crimes, and that was the way it should be.

Living in the muggle world had its comforts; he could get whatever he wanted from them without much trying. He could brew a potion to make them do anything he wanted and had the charm to persuade them to take it. If the ministry found out about his mission they would hunt him down and lock him up in Askaban. The muggle-loving Ministry had no idea what they were doing. They knew nothing of his intelligence or his selflessness. Giving up his life for the good of the Wizarding world was a sacrifice that he had willingly made. Luckily for him, it turned out to be a good life. Here he was powerful. Here he was in control of everybody. It had been a year since he began travelling the Muggle world, keeping them all in their place and the Ministry had no idea; and he was prepared for when they found out.


	4. And so it Begins

Practically skipping, Ron made his way back to the Auror office to talk to Williamson. He couldn't wait to open up the file and find out exactly what he would be doing. Ron's whole family was very proud of him when he first became an Auror; even George had a look of pride on his face when it happened. Nobody had expected it, and Ron hadn't expected it to be so boring. But now he would finally see that look on his family's faces again. He was going to bring justice to a man who had killed hundreds of Muggles.

Finally, he reached the Auror office and walked in. Seeing all the other Aurors working away on their boring paperwork made Ron feel even more special and his walk suddenly became more of a swagger. Williamson popped his head out of his cubicle and when he saw Ron, he began to laugh.

'This must be a pretty big mission' He said, still laughing

'What makes you say that?' Ron asked, Daniel was right, it was a big mission; but he seemed to have a different reason for thinking so

'Well, you only swagger about like that if you feel important' and he stopped laughing when he saw the look in Ron's face, his voice suddenly full of desperation, 'So what is it? Are we actually doing something real?'

'Come on, I'll show you'

They walked into Ron's office and sat down at either side of his desk. Ron's office was quite normal; just plain cream and blue walls, a desk and some chairs. But what made the office special was the pictures all over the plain cream walls, pictures of Hermione, Rose, Hugo, Harry, Neville and everybody else that Ron cared about. Having all these people he cared for so deeply smiling and waving up at him made his boring office work bearable. Ron opened up the file and set it on the desk.

'Wow. Ron this looks big' Williamson said, a smile growing large on his face as he flipped through the file looking at case reports.

'Yeh, it is. We leave tomorrow so tell Nancy when you go home. I feel awful leaving Hermione alone to take care of the kids but this is huge. She knows it's my dream, she'll understand' Ron reassured himself 'Let's start planning this'

They got to work; planning what they were sure would be the mission that made them legends.


	5. Sad Goodbyes

Ron left work in a fantastic mood that night. When he arrived in the fireplace of his home and was greeted by hugs from both Hugo and Rose and a kiss on the lips from Hermione, Ron smiled greatly and told them all about his mission. Hermione seemed to force a smile,

'Ron, that's great' she said, almost unwillingly 'But don't you think it's a bit dangerous? What if you get distracted? What if this man is a more skilled wizard? What if, Ronald, you go and get yourself ki-'

'Hermione, the kids are her for god's sake. You'll scare them saying things like that. Anyway, you have always known that this was my dream. Why else would I become an Auror? I need a bit of excitement in my job; it's been too boring for far too long. And have a little belief in me, please. I've been through worse with you and Harry!'

'But Ron this time you'll be with Williamson. He is a lovely Wizard but he isn't the sharpest I've met. You won't have any safety nets this time, Ron. You will be _his _safety net.'

If Ron was looking furious before it was nothing to how he looked now. His ears were bright red and his eyes were practically slits,

'I don't _need _a safety net. I have been trained for this and know exactly what I'm getting into. I'm not a child anymore; I know all the spells I need to know and am highly skilled in catching dark Wizards. I won't need anybody jumping in and saving me. And if Daniel needs saving then I'll be happy to do it. Do you not think that maybe I actually _want _to be the one doing the saving?'

Ron realised how angry he had gotten and how upset and guilty Hermione looked. No matter how angry he was at her, Ron could never get any enjoyment from making the woman he loved feel badly.

'Hermione, I'm sorry. I don't want to upset you but I have to do this. I signed up to be an Auror because I wanted to catch Dark Wizard and I have done virtually none of that in my entire career. All I ever think about at work is coming home to you and the kids; you're the only thing that gets me out of bed in the morning. But this could be the one time that I actually do something worthwhile at work apart from thinking about when I finally get to go home. I need this, Hermione, but I won't go if you are upset with me because of it'

Hermione looked quite taken aback, Ron was always fairly romantic with her but hardly ever so much as this. Her eyes filled up with tears and she spoke with a lump in her throat,

'You better be careful, Ronald'

And she fell into his arms, crying as he stroked her hair and whispered into her ear,

'_I love you too, Hermione'_


	6. Leaving Home

'Good morning, sunshine!'

Ron turned over in his bed, grunted loudly and mumbled a string of incomprehensible swear words. After several minutes of continuous window tapping, Daniel Williamson finally pointed his wand at the window lock and said

'Alohomora'

The window flew open and Daniel stepped carelessly inside, knocking over perfume bottles and cans of Sleakeasy's _Hair_ Potion as he did so. He looked like a child on their way to their first day at Hogwarts. Daniel shook Ron furiously until he finally woke up.

'Daniel?' Ron said, dreamily 'What time is it? Is Hermione already away to work?'

'It's about half nine in the morning. Hermione left for work just as I arrived. We've got to hurry! Come on Ron, get up!'

Ron laughed and shook his head in disbelief. Daniel always had been a child at heart.

'Come on, Dan. I'll make some breakfast'

Ron made bacon, eggs, French toast, sausages and beans. They both ate whole-heartedly and spoke excitedly about their mission.

'This is going to be amazing, Dan. When we catch this guy we're going to be legends'

'But, Ron, you're already a legend. You helped to kill Lord Voldemort!' Daniel said, looking admiringly at Ron, he had always looked up to Ron ever since he became an Auror. He could hardly believe it when he was told he would be working in the same Auror office as Ron Weasley. Even now that they were good friends he couldn't help but look up to him.

'Well yeh but it's mostly Harry that gets the recognition for that. This will be different'

He wasn't wrong, Harry did get more recognition for killing Voldemort than Ron did; but Ron got a lot more than he realised. Always being second best to everybody: his brothers, Harry and even Hermione, had taken its toll on Ron. His self-esteem was very low for such an accomplished wizard.

When the pair had finished eating their breakfast they decided to go over their plan quickly before leaving.

'So we have the newspaper with the latest suspicious disappearance, which was in that little village in Scotland. We go there, look for any clues, ask some locals what they've seen lately and then once we have a lead we'll go with that?' Daniel recited, and Ron nodded 'But what if we don't find any leads? What if there isn't a trace of him?'

'There will be. Magic always leaves a trace. Plus, that village only has one known magical resident and she is just a little old lady, she wouldn't know if there was somebody secretly living in her house. I think we'll check their first'

Daniel took out his wand and cleaned up the plates and glasses, smashing a glass and almost hitting Ron in the head with a plate as he did so. Ron laughed, he was used to Daniel almost accidently knocking him out, and he picked up his backpack from the couch and swung it round his shoulder.

'Are you sure that that bag has _everything _we will need in it? For both of us?' Daniel asked doubtfully

'I put a undetectable extension charm on it. Hermione taught me it' There was a flash of sadness in Ron's eyes when he said this. He might not see his wife for weeks, or his kids. He put the bag back onto the couch, sighed, picked up a family photo from the coffee table and slid it into his bag carefully.

'Come on, Dan' He said, sounding back to his excited self. This was going to be great.


	7. The Puppet Master

'Imperio'

He watched malovently as his puppet did as he decided. The muggle walked mindlessly to the edge of a bridge and climbed clumsily on top of the small wall seperating life from death. The Wizard smiled and teased an invisible audience, making the muggle dance and stumble on the wall. He had mischief in his eyes and a grin across his face when he finally let the muggle drop. He laughed hysterically as the muggle fell to his death, letting the Imperius curse drop with him. He wanted to see the terror in the muggles eyes as he fell, as he realised that he would be leaving this world, never to return.

Maybe this would be in the local newspaper: _Local Man Jumps off Bridge, Man Committs Suicide, Suicide or Murder?_

Muggle newspapers, however, meant nothing. One day the Wizarding world would know of his brilliance

_not that I'm doing it for recognition, for status_

But it would be wonderful to have people worship him and praise him for his noble sacrifice to the Wizarding world. It would be fantastic to be praised for his natural talents and skills in the Dark Arts. He had never attended Hogwarts; he had taught himself everything he knew. It was amazing that he had taught himself so well, not that anybody had ever noticed or even commented on it. It was just him against the world, against the muggles.

He didn't quite like it here in Germany. He missed Scotland, where he had been before; it had been so comfertable but he had to leave. It would be unwise to stay in one place for too long. The Witch who lived in the house he had stayed in was still under his Imperio curse which meant that if the Ministry was on his tail and tried to question the old lady, they would certainly never make it out alive. Perfect.


	8. A Bad Feeling

'Well this place is... it's...'

Daniel was having trouble describing the small Scottish village becauseit was so pretty and cosy looking but there was something strange about it. The the cobbled streets and little cottages all had a chillingly eerie air about them. It was hard not to feel like they were in a horror movie while they were there. Like this was just the calm before the storm.

Ron and Daniel had apparated into an empty alley to avoid being seen by Muggles but this turned out to be completely unnecessary. There was noone in the streets. It was 5:30pm and there wasn't a single person walking their dog, popping out to the shop or even waiting for a bus. This wasn't normal, something was wrong.

'It's just plain creepy' Ron said as Daniel was completely lost for words.

The pair walked cautiously toward a strange, slightly out-of-place, cottage with a large chimney and slightly sad-looking plants.

Suddenly Ron remembered that some magical plants grow attached to their owners.

He picked up his pace and Daniel followed suit. Ron threw open the gate and ran to the door,

'Alohomora!' he shouted, while running and ran straight through the now-open doorway and to the living room where he was intercepted.

'Hello, boys' the old woman said, a decievingly sweet grin spread on her face, 'Sit down. There haven't been any other magical people in this village for quite some time now, I simply couldn't miss such an oppertunity to speak with someone of my own race'

They sat, feeling very concious and a little bit wary of this seemingly sweet old woman,

'We're so sorry to barge in like this, Mrs Balderdash. We are Aurors, from the Ministry of Magic, and we would like to ask you some questions. It will only take a moment. And then...' Ron hesitated, 'Just take a little look around your house'

Mrs Balderdash grinned even wider,

'Of course! Fire away, darling'

They just asked her a few routine questions; the really important thing was to look around her house.

'Follow me, then' She said as she led the two Aurors through her hallway and up her stairs.

'Mrs Balderdash, is that an attic?' Daniel asked

'Why yes, Yes it is, Mr Williamson. Would you like to take a look?' The old lady said, more malevolently than ever.

Daniel looked at Ron, who nodded. Mrs Balderdash smiled a twisted smile as she pulled down the attic door to reveal a rickety, wooden ladder. Ron led the way up and Daniel followed.

'I'll wait down here, boys. My bones are far too brittle for such things as climbing ladders'

Ron knew then and there that something was wrong. He grabbed for his wand but he was too late, the door slammed shut and suddenly nothing would cme out of his wand but pathetic sparks. All that they could hear was the loud, high pitched cackling from below the attic door.


	9. A Stroke of Luck

Ron felt completely responsible. It was obvious that Mrs Balderdash was under the Imperius curse; all the signs were there. She was described in the file as frail and weak and worn-out but this woman seemed to have the confidence of any powerful wizard Ron had met.

_Take care of Williamson_

Daniel had people who loved him just like Ron did and now he might never see them again. His mother would cry forever, his brothers would never be the same again, his friends would never fill the empty space in their group. Ron hated himself, he had been so sure that he was ready to be the leader, to know exactly what to do and to act on his instincts. He had failed everybody.

_You'll be his safety net_

Daniel had begun rummaging through an old wardrobe as though he couldn't find his other shoe.

'Daniel, what are you looking for?'

'Well there might be something in here that we could use to get out. It's worth a try!' Daniel said, determinedly.

Ron couldn't decide whether to admire Daniels ability not to break down in situations like these or to feel frustrated that he was remaining so calm when Ron was absolutely mad with worry. Ron sighed as he began to search through a pile of random nick-nacks, books, jewellery, ornaments and a lot more of the random objects that cluttered the large wooden table sitting in the corner of the room.

Hours of endless searching passed with no results and the pair began to feel hungry. They ignored the rumbling of their stomachs and fired through pile of clutter, wardrobes and hampers. Finally it became it much to ignore and they had to stop what they were doing.

'Mate, I'm starving' Daniel moaned, holding his stomach and groaning 'Maybe that's what she's doing; starving us to death'

'We'd dehydrate first' Ron mumbled sullenly as he threw an old alarm clock at a wall. Looking down at the space where the clock had been, Ron's eyes widened and a huge smile spread across his face.

Ron shakily picked up the phial of golden liquid.

'What's that?' Daniel asked as he gave up searching an old chest and walked clumsily to Ron, tripping on a small pile of books as he went.

'I'm not really sure, but I think it might be Felix Felicis!'


	10. Felix Felicis

'You take it. Drink half and we'll keep the rest incase we need it again sometime on the mission. Half will probably get you about six hours, right?' Daniel asked, he knew that Ron was a more experienced Auror and would, of course, make better use of the Felix Felicis than Daniel would.

'Really? You're OK with that?' Daniel nodded and Ron felt excitement rush through him. Ron had never taken Felix Felicis before, he had only ever been under the impression that he had. This time he knew that Harry hadn't pretended to slip some into his pumpkin juice.

'So shall we make a plan, then? For when you've taken it?' Daniel asked.

Ron laughed and shook his head in amusement, remembering the first time he had seen someone take Felix Felicis, back when he was at school.

'There's no point, Dan' Ron laughed again at Daniels shocked expression 'When you've taken this, you don't follow any plan. You just know exactly what to do, and things just go perfectly for you!'

They looked at eachother and smiled greatly, ready to get out of there and catch the evil Wizard once and for all.

Ron pulled the lid off of the phial and drunk, leaving half of the potion still in the bottle.

'Do you feel anything?' Daniel asked curiously.

Ron felt many things. He felt light and calm and like nothing could possibly go wrong, like he was Hermione Granger about to take an easy test, like he was racing snails or trying to catch a wingless snitch; but there was one thing that he felt more than anything else...

'I feel... I feel a strange desire to do this' and he walked coolly across the room, knelt down and ripped out a floorboard with his bare hands. Daniel watched in wonder as Ron dug around beneath the floorboards and finally emerged with a small key.

'She must keep one in here incase he gets locked in' Ron said, calmy, as he strolled to the door and unlocked it.

'Wait!' Daniel whispered 'She might be out there!'

'She's not. I can feel it. Now let's go!' Ron said with a sort of dont-be-a-worrier smile.

They climbed out of the attic, Ron casually jumped and Daniel carefully shimmied down. Daniel went to walk to his right but Ron quickly stopped him,

'We shouldn't go that way'

'Why not?' Daniel looked positively puzzled

'Just come this way!'

Ron led Daniel down the stairs leading into a small kitchen.

'What are you doing?' Daniel whispered, angrily, as Ron opened the fridge and looked around inside.

'SCORE' Ron said loudly as he opened the freezer and pulled out a massive tub of ice cream. He found a large spoon and began shoving ice cream into his mouth.

'Ron!'

'Oh, I'm so sorry!' Ron said through a mouth full of ice cream 'D'you want some?'

'No, I want to get the hell out of here' Daniel whispered, sincerely.

'Fine. Let's go this way!' Ron said as he led Daniel to a door.

'You can't be serious. You're actually bringing that with you?' Daniel asked as he fought to hide a laugh. But when Ron shrugged his shoulders and took another mouthful of ice cream, getting more on his face with every spoonful, Daniel let out a little laugh. Shaking his head in disbelief, Daniel picked up a spoon and shoved a huge lump of ice cream into his mouth.

'Wait. Why don't we just apparate from here?' Daniel asked as Ron practically skipped down the little hallway and through another door.

'Because there's something in here' Ron said in a matter-of-fact tone.

And, of course, Ron walked into what looked like a reading room, picked up a small box from a corner (Daniel wondered how he could have possibly noticed it) and dropped it into his pocket. Ron then said a quick spell to reverse any dark magic used on Mrs Balderdash, grabbed Daniel and apparated.


	11. Mr and Mrs Scamander

Ron landed smoother than ever in an unfamiliar room, Daniel landed beside a chair which he tripped on seconds after apparation. The walls were covered in hand-drawn pictures of strange Magical Creatures, many of which Ron had never even heard of,

_Engorginated Scorpian- Mainly found in Egypt, these creatures can kill with just a drop of their venom. The Engorginated Scorpian only attacks when it feels threatened. The way to make sure that the Engorginated Scorpian does not feel threatened is to wear Mother Scorpian perfume which comforts the Scorpian. _

_Poisonus Krewit- These tricky little creatures are killer but not difficult to fend off if you carry with you a Dirigible Plum at all times. They can be found anywhere in the world but are extremely rare. If ever you are unfortunate enough to meet one of these creatures you should carefully insert a Dirigible Plum into it's mouth and squeeze the bottom of it's tail until it falls asleep._

'They don't sound too nice' Daniel said, sounding alarmed.

Ron looked around the pictures and explanations of all of the magical creatures. He began to doubt whether some of them were real or not and who could possibly think up so many impossible creatures until,

_Crumple-Horned Snorkack- Mainly found in Sweden but very difficult to find. The Crumple-Horned Snorkack is a wonderful creature although not many people have heard of them._

Suddenly Ron began to notice things in the room that he hadn't before. There was a massive statue of a Hippogriff made completely out of leaves and twigs with a large golden plaque at it's feet saying in a familiar handwriting,

_Made by me and Rolf while searching the tropical forests for undiscovered magical creatures_

There was a cauldren full of a potion that Ron had never seen before. It was dark purple and had bright pink swirls of steam rising from it. Ron leaned over the cauldren and inhaled deeply. The potion had an instant effect on him, he took another look around the room but this time he saw everything in a completely different light. He didn't question any of it, all that he saw was how amazing the creatures sounded and instead of wanting proof that they were real, he simply appreciated the beauty of them.

'Wonderful, isn't it? Having a more open mind'

Ron and Daniel shot around to where the voice had come from, Daniel worrying that it may be an enemy and Ron smiling greatly as he turned to the familiarly dreamy voice to see his old friend.

'Luna!' Ron said happily as he walked over to hug her.

'Hello Ron! Who's your friend?' Luna asked as she hugged Ron.

Ron explained to Luna that they were on a mission as Aurors, how they had been trapped, how they managed to escape and that they had apparated to the first place that Ron thought of.

'Well it sounds like you still had about 5 hours of luck left when you apparated. You must still be having luck. Maybe there's a reason you came here' Luna said as she waved her wand, leading three glasses of pumpkin juice intothe room which landed in each of their hands.

'Yeh there probably is' Daniel said thoughtfully, wondering what the reason was for all of the things Ron had done since they arrived.

'Hey,Luna! Would you mind if I borrowed these?' Ron said, picking some things up from a shelf.

'Of course not' she said happily 'take whatever you want from the shelf, I've got plenty of all of it'

'So, Luna. Who's this Rolf guy?' Ron asked as he shoved the phial and jar into his bag.

'My husband'

Ron's face lit up, clearly he felt like winding someone up.

'Whey hey!' He shouted, laughing 'Let's me him then!'

Luna laughed, but to Ron's surprise she said,

'I'll just go and get him!'

And skipped out of the room.

Ron and Daniel waited a few minutes before Luna reappeared with a tall, dark haired man wearing some very odd wizards robes.

'Hello, friends of Luna's!' Rolf Scamander shouted happily, holding out his long arms to give Ron and Daniel a hug.

Ron and Daniels eyes met while they were in Rolfs embrace and they both laughed in disbelief as the man squeezed them even harder. Finally Rolf let go of the hug and smiled at them both.

'This is Rolf, my husband' Luna said as she stared admiringly at her husband.

The four of them made their way into Luna's living room and sat in large armchairs. Ron sat in a purple furry chair, Daniel sat in an orange leather one, Luna sat in a bright green velvet one and Rolf sat in a fluorescent pink chair that seemed to be made of Dragon skin.

'So you two boys are Aurors?' Rolf asked.

'Yeh, we are' Daniel answered, proudly

'So I assume that you have heard of the dark wizard who has been travelling the world ki-'

'Killing muggles for sport?' Daniel shouted, surprised that Rolf had heard of this.

'Heavens no!' Rolf looked taken aback 'He has been stealing peoples garden gnomes for his own personal gain!'

'Oh...' Daniel and Ron both sighed.

'Well, he was last sighted in a little village in Scotland. But if my sources are correct, his next stop was Germany'

Ron and Daniel both looked shocked, maybe this guy knew more than they thought! He just had one little detail wrong

'Where in Germany?' Ron asked quickly, leaning closer to Rolf

'Well, I have a friend who was sure that he heard someone apparate while he was walking beside the Havel River in Berlin. He saw a wizard there who fitted the description walking up to the Glienicke Bridge. So he owled me about it, we had been talking about the wizard previously, and now I amtelling you about it!' He gave them a goofy smile

'When was this?' Ron asked urgently

'He saw him there just yesterday. But he could be anywhere now'

Ron was disapointed, he really could be anywhere by now.

'But if I know anything about the Gnome Killer, and I do, he will be off to Sweden next' Rolf added quickly as he noticed the disapointed expressions on Ron and Daniels faces.

'Really? What makes you think that?' Daniel asked, excitedly

'Well he has a system. Very difficult to explain and you two don't have much time. If you really want to catch this man, you should really go now'

'Come on, Dan!' Ron said happily 'Goodbye Luna, it was amazing seeing you! Goodbye, Rolf, thankyou for everything'

They all exchanged hugs and goodbyes and finally, Ron and Daniel made their way to the front door and with a loud POP they apparated.


	12. Danny Boy

POP

Daniel and Ron landed on a huge green hill. The hills went on as far as they could see and there was nothing else but streams.

'D'you think there's anyone living here?' Daniel asked breathlessly, apparating always tired him out.

'I dunno but I'm sure we apparated to the right place. The Felix felicis should only just be wearing off now. I can kind of feel it. Like a sugar crash or when you know you've started to sober up.'

Daniel felt reassured, Ron was right, if the Felix Felicis was still working when they apparated then they must be where they should be.

Daniels, normally perfectly gel'd, dark brown hair had become flat so he swung his back-pack from his shoulder, dug around inside and pulled out a large tub of hair gel.

'Oh my god, Dan you cannot be serious! Why are you fixing your hair?'

'Hey, just because he don't mind looking ugly' Daniel bit back, unseriously

'Who are you trying to impress? I'm the only one around here. Unless you're hoping to cop-off with the Wizard we're looking for' Ron laughed, Daniel punched him playfully in the arm

'Shut it, Ron' He laughed as he smoothed gel through his hair, spiking each little bit up until finally he felt content with the way that it looked.

Ron shook his head in disbelief and started to walk, Daniel followed him happily,

'So, that Luna girl seemed pretty weird' Daniel said, laughing 'Nice though, she seems cool'

'Yeh she is. You know, at first I didn't really like her; thought she was a weirdo. But when you grow up a little you realise that it's better to be weird than to be normal and boring. Luna always knew that, she was obviously a lot more mature than I was.'

Daniel smiled, Ron wasalways full of great advice. That was actually how the two had met. Daniel's mind suddenly flashed back to when he first met Ronald Weasley:

During his years at Hogwarts, Daniel had always been quite quiet. Only his fellow Hufflepuffs really knew who he was, and even some of them saw him in the common room, after years of walking past him in the corridors, and said

'Who's the new guy?'

So when Daniel woke up on his first day of being an Auror, he had decided that this was going to be different. He wasn't going to be 'quiet', 'boring', Daniel; he was going to be the new and improved, cool and confident, Danny-Boy!

After taking the Floo Network to the Ministry of Magic, Danny-Boy swaggered through the crowd of Ministry employees, not noticing any of the sniggers or disapproving looks but assuming that the heads turning to him had admiration and lust in their eyes, to the elavators and finally strutted into the Auror office.

A man in a fancy looking set of navy blue robes approached him and introduced himself as the Head of the Auror Office, to which Danny-Boy replied in a low voice which was so obviously not his own,

'Cool, bro. I'm Daniel, but you can call me Danny-Boy'

But when the Head of the Auror Office ignored the cringe-worthy response and told him that he would be working with none other than Ron Weasley, Danny-Boy lost his 'cool'.

'Are you being serious! Oh god, Ron Weasley' He repeated the name with admiration, 'Are you sure?'

The Head of the Auror Office laughed at Danny-Boy's fan-girl attitude, beckoned him to follow him and walked through the maze of cubicles to an office door with a golden plaque in the middle reading,

_Ronald Weasley, Senior Auror_

'In you go, Danny-Boy' The Head of the Auror Office said, mockingly.

Danny-Boy took a deep breath and closed his eyes

_Come on. You're Danny-Boy now. Pull yourself together. Do the walk, you practiced it for ages last night_

Finally he straightened up, opened the door and swaggered into the office.

'Yo, I'm Danny-Boy' He said in an attempt at a sort of ganster voice, but it came out as more of an 8-year-old-girl type of voice when he saw his idol staring up at him, looking thoroughly amused.

'Yo, Danny-Boy' Ron mocked him, 'I assume that you're my trainee Auror?'

'Uh, yeh. Yeh, I am' Daniel said, staring at his feet, embarresed beyond belief.

Ron must have felt bad for Daniel, because he didn't laugh again.

'Daniel. Mind if I call you Daniel?' He asked, and when Daniel nodded silently, Ron continued, 'Daniel, you don't have to be something you're not to be liked. You seem like a nice bloke, stop pretending to be whatever it is that you're pretending to be because it'll just make people think you're a douche. I know how hard it is to get noticed and I definitely know how bad it can feel to not get that attention. But this isn't school, this isn't a popularity contest; this is the grown-up world and here you aren't judged by how 'cool' you are. Here you're judged on how brave and how good a person you are. So I'm going to give you a chance to start again.'

Ron held out his had,

'Nice to meet you, I'm Ron Weasley'


	13. Hermione's Story

'Mummy, what's wrong?' Rose asked as she stumbled sleepily into the kitchen for a glass of milk, only to hear her Mother sobbing at the kitchen table.

'Oh, Rose, it's nothing. I'm fine' Hermione said as she wiped her tears away and forced a smile.

'Do you miss Daddy?' the ten year old asked confidently, she never seemed to feel the awkwardness in situations.

'I do' Hemione whispered as Rose hugged her tightly

Ron had been gone for about two weeks now and Hermione wasn't only missing him, but she was terribly worried about him. The kids didn't seem as worried but, of course, they didn't really know how dangerous Ron's mission was going to be. Hermione probably would have broken down with the worry if she didn't have Harry and Ginny to console her.

Rose poured her glass of milk, gave her mother a kiss on the forhead and before walking pack up to her room, whispered in Hermione's ear,

'Daddy will be fine'

The next morning Hermione was awoken by an owl pecking at her window and was startled by it's strange appearence. It was quite a large, colourful owl. When she opened the window and untied the envelope from the birds footand read the letter inside, and gave the weird owl a treat, Hermione suddenly understood why someone would buy such a ridiculous looking owl.

_Hello, Hermione!_

_I hope you're doing wonderfully. _

_Ron stopped by me on Rolf's home and told us all about his exciting mission_

_Thankfully, Rolf was able to give him some very helpful information_

_I trust that he will find who he is looking for_

_Him and his friend, Daniel, seemed quite alright_

_I just thought that I should let you know_

_Love from,_

_Luna Scamander _

A huge lump grew in Hermione's throat and tears of relief fell down her cheeks. Ron was safe. At least for now. She knew that once they found the wizard things might take a turn for the worse, but knowing that it hadn't happened yet and that he was alive and well was enough to cheer Hermione up a little bit.

Hermione was just storing the letter away when she heard a familiar knock on the front door. First Harry's calm and altogether normal knocking, then albus' loud and fast knocking as he pushed his father aside to get in on the fun.

Laughing, both at Albus and in relief, Hermione practically skipped to the door.

'Good morning!' said Hermione to Harry, Ginny, Albus, James and Lily.

'Aunty Hermione!' Lily exclaimed as she flew at Hermione and hugged her so tight it hurt.

They made their way to the living room and everyone sat down.

'Luna sent me an owl today' Hermione said, smiling greatly 'Ron stopped by her house. He's okay!'

'Hermione, that's great!' Harry said, also relieved that his best friend was safe

'Oh thank goodness!' Ginny said, looking relaxed for the first time since Ron left 'I know he's been through worse, but him not having you and Harry with him made me really worried. I guess he really can take care of himself'


	14. Brutal Ending

They walked and walked, through the hills and trees and rocks, until they finally reached a small bridge. As they walked toward the bridge, Daniel stopped. Ron turned when he realised that Daniel was not beside him.

'Dan, why did you stop walking?' Ron asked, concerned at the look of terror on Daniels face.

Daniel pointed, shakily, at something moving in the distance.

'It's probably just an animal' Ron said, laughing.

'It... was an animal' Dan whispered 'Before it turned back into a man'

Ron stopped laughing and pulled his wand out.

'STUPIFY' he shouted, pointing his wand at the figure in the distance which fell hard to the ground.

The two ran toward the figure to see who it was. As they approached it, Ron stopped suddenly, everything seemed to slow down. He threw out his arm to stop Daniel, raised his wand arm and pointed it at the stirring figure as he screamed

'PROTEGO!'

Too late.

Dan was motionless. The green light had hit him before Ron could stop it.

He barely noticed himself cast the Protego spell, causing the killing curse aimed at himself to backfire and hit the evil wizard.

'Dan!' Ron shouted as he threw himself, tear stricken, onto his friend.

But Daniel didn't move.

Ron lay, crying, on Daniel for hours. Going over the moment in his head until it was a mere blur and he couldn't remember any of the biggest details.

Finally, Ron pulled himself onto his knees and took out his wand. Tears ran down his face as he spoke to his friend.

'Dan... I'm so sorry... it should have been me. I was sup-' He broke off, waling in horror and in grief, 'I was supposed to be looking after you, Dan!'

Ron gripped Daniels cold hand and apparated straight into Kingsleys office. The last thing he cared about at that moment was how rude it was to apparate straight into someones house or office.

'Ronald!' Kingsley looked terror-struck 'What happened? Is Williamson... He's not?'

Ron just nodded and rested his head on Daniel's shoulder, sobbing loudly.

Kingsley led Ron to a room connected to his office in which there was a bed and a table on which there was a jug of water, cups and a tin of chocolates. He sat him down and told him to wait there and that he would sort everything out, tell the family, call Hermione, make sure that everything was right. But nothing was right. Dan was gone. Things would never be right again. They were such close friends, he had spent christmas with Ron and his family the year that Daniels mother had died, he hadspent every day of work with him, made the boring office work barable. Things werent right at all.


End file.
